Sydney Cockerell
Encyclopedia
Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell (16 July 1867 – 1 May 1962) was an English
museum curator and collector.
. According to John Ruskin by Tim Hilton (p. 816), around 1887 Cockerell sent Ruskin some sea shells, which he collected. At that time he had already met William Morris
. Cockerell tried to patch up a quarrel between Ruskin and Octavia Hill
(Hilton, p. 832), who had been a friend of his late father Sydney John Cockerell, and godmother to his sister Olive.
From 1891, Cockerell gained a more solid entry to intellectual circles, working for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
. The architect Detmar Blow
was a friend (Hilton p.843). He acted as private secretary to William Morris, becoming a major collector of Kelmscott Press books; was secretary also to Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
; and was Thomas Hardy
's executor. From 1908 to 1937 he was Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum
, in Cambridge.
Cockerell appears as one of a circle of three figures in the book by Dame Felicitas Corrigan
, The Nun, the Infidel, and the Superman, with Dame Laurentia McLachlan
and George Bernard Shaw
. It was later dramatised by Hugh Whitemore
as The Best of Friends, which was produced on stage at the Hampstead Theatre
in 2006 and on television in 1991.
According to Penelope Fitzgerald
's life of Charlotte Mew
, Charlotte Mew and Her Friends (1984), "Cockerell was one of the six children of a Brighton coal merchant who died quite young. This meant a hard start, but, as he told his biographer, Wilfred Blunt, 'I was protected by poverty from marriage until I was forty.' During that time he was able to develop his two ruling passions - the arts (or rather the classification and collecting of them), and the cultivating of great men. When he became Director of the Fitzwilliam in 1908 he identified the Museum entirely with himself, and heroic indeed were his efforts to tap bequests, endowments, and death-bed legacies which would enrich it in every department. He calculated that during his lifetime he had made a quarter of a million pounds for the Fitzwilliam, and about a dozen enemies."
(1866–1948), who settled in the United States, was his brother, as was the book binder Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870–1945). The inventor Christopher Cockerell
was his son, and bookbinder extraordinaire Sydney Maurice Cockerell was his nephew.
He was married to the illuminator and designer Kate Cockerell, who in 1916 was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
. They had three children.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
museum curator and collector.
Life
Sydney Cockerell made his way initially as clerk in the family coal business, George J. Cockerell & Co, until he met John RuskinJohn Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
. According to John Ruskin by Tim Hilton (p. 816), around 1887 Cockerell sent Ruskin some sea shells, which he collected. At that time he had already met William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
. Cockerell tried to patch up a quarrel between Ruskin and Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill was an English social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a family with a strong commitment to alleviating poverty, she herself grew up in straitened circumstances owing...
(Hilton, p. 832), who had been a friend of his late father Sydney John Cockerell, and godmother to his sister Olive.
From 1891, Cockerell gained a more solid entry to intellectual circles, working for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris, Philip Webb and J.J.Stevenson, and other notable members of the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood, in 1877, to oppose what they saw as the insensitive renovation of ancient buildings then occurring in Victorian...
. The architect Detmar Blow
Detmar Blow
Detmar Jellings Blow was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocracy, and later he became estates manager to the Duke of Westminster...
was a friend (Hilton p.843). He acted as private secretary to William Morris, becoming a major collector of Kelmscott Press books; was secretary also to Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt was an English poet and writer. He was born at Petworth House in Sussex, and served in the Diplomatic Service from 1858 to 1869. His mother was a Catholic convert and he was educated at Twyford School, Stonyhurst and at St Mary's College, Oscott...
; and was Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's executor. From 1908 to 1937 he was Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
, in Cambridge.
Cockerell appears as one of a circle of three figures in the book by Dame Felicitas Corrigan
Felicitas Corrigan
Dame Felicitas Corrigan OSB was an English Benedictine nun, author and humanitarian.She was born Kathleen Corrigan into a large Liverpool family, and developed a talent as an organist. In 1933, she entered Stanbrook Abbey in Worcestershire as a nun, and eventually became director of its choir...
, The Nun, the Infidel, and the Superman, with Dame Laurentia McLachlan
Laurentia McLachlan
Dame Laurentia McLachlan, OSB was born in 1866 in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1884 she joined the Benedictine Abbey at Stanbrook Abbey. In 1931 she was elected Abbess of Stanbrook...
and George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
. It was later dramatised by Hugh Whitemore
Hugh Whitemore
Hugh Whitemore is an English playwright and screenwriter.Whitemore studied for the stage at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he is now a Member of the Council. He began his writing career in British television with both original teleplays and adaptations of classic works by Charles...
as The Best of Friends, which was produced on stage at the Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
in 2006 and on television in 1991.
According to Penelope Fitzgerald
Penelope Fitzgerald
Penelope Fitzgerald was a Booker Prize-winning English novelist, poet, essayist and biographer. In 2008, The Times included her in a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
's life of Charlotte Mew
Charlotte Mew
Charlotte Mary Mew was an English poet, whose work spans the cusp between Victorian poetry and Modernism.She was born in Bloomsbury, London the daughter of the architect Frederick Mew, who designed Hampstead town hall and Anna Kendall. She attended Lucy Harrison's School for Girls and lectures at...
, Charlotte Mew and Her Friends (1984), "Cockerell was one of the six children of a Brighton coal merchant who died quite young. This meant a hard start, but, as he told his biographer, Wilfred Blunt, 'I was protected by poverty from marriage until I was forty.' During that time he was able to develop his two ruling passions - the arts (or rather the classification and collecting of them), and the cultivating of great men. When he became Director of the Fitzwilliam in 1908 he identified the Museum entirely with himself, and heroic indeed were his efforts to tap bequests, endowments, and death-bed legacies which would enrich it in every department. He calculated that during his lifetime he had made a quarter of a million pounds for the Fitzwilliam, and about a dozen enemies."
Family
He was the son of Sydney John Cockerell (1842-1877) and Alice Elizabeth Bennett. The bee expert Theodore Dru Alison CockerellTheodore Dru Alison Cockerell
Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell was an American zoologist, born at Norwood, England, and brother of Sydney Cockerell. He was educated at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, and then studied botany in the field in Colorado in 1887-90...
(1866–1948), who settled in the United States, was his brother, as was the book binder Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870–1945). The inventor Christopher Cockerell
Christopher Cockerell
Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE FRS was an English engineer, inventor of the hovercraft.-Life:Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum, having previously been the secretary of William Morris. Christopher Cockerell was...
was his son, and bookbinder extraordinaire Sydney Maurice Cockerell was his nephew.
He was married to the illuminator and designer Kate Cockerell, who in 1916 was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
. They had three children.
Sources
External links
- Cockerell Papers — Archive Descriptions, University of ExeterUniversity of ExeterThe University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....